Improve the Frontline Construction Supervisor's Impact

Construction companies vary in size, as do the size and complexity of their
projects. These projects may be a few thousand dollars or hundreds of million
dollars in size. There probably would only be one frontline supervisor
(foreman) on a small job and potentially multiple foremen on large ones.

The question is, in that organization, who is considered as being the
frontline supervisor. It could be at the project level (superintendent) or at
the task level (foreman). This article will consider the foreman's role as
it is the lowest level of performance management, prosecuting work, and
generating revenue for the organization.

It is generally the foreman who manages the crew. And it is at the crew
level that work is done. How well the foreman manages the work will affect the
crew's productivity. This is the economic unit that creates the work in
place that generates the flow of revenue into the coffers of the construction
company. The way that the work is executed may also impact other measurable
aspects of the overall outcome of the task (e.g., production, quality, safety,
goal attainment, or meeting obligations). By virtue of that fact, the frontline
supervisor (foreman) generally plays a key role in the degree of success of the
project.

Issues in Supervision

Obviously, one foreman not managing the crew effectively will not bankrupt
the construction company he is working for, nor will it result in any crew
member getting maimed or mangled. But it will impact the effectiveness of the
crew and the efficiency of the prosecution of the work. It could also increase
the risk of some crew member potentially getting injured. This, in some ways,
may also impact the quality of the work.

The broader question is why is this state of affairs allowed to exist?
Organizations have a chain of command. A foreman usually reports to a
superintendent who in turn report to a higher-level manager, on up to the chief
executive of the organization. Each level of management oversees the
performance of their direct reports. When there is subpar performance within
the chain of command, the questions are why has this state of affairs evolved,
how long has it been going on, and, more importantly, what is the immediate
supervisor doing to effectively remedy the situation?

The foreman directly or indirectly impacts the organization's ability to
garner the greatest return on its investment of resources, which are material,
labor, equipment, technology, and time. The crew's ability to produce the
maximum output given the invested resources is dependent on the ability of the
foreman to effectively and efficiently manage the operation. This is also
impacted by the produced work having the required level of quality and the
workers performing the work in such a way that they do not suffer an
injury.

The foreman, therefore, must be knowledgeable as well as capable of
planning, organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling the operation. The
foreman must not only be an effective manager but also an influential leader
with a vast array of skills that includes such skills as being an effective
communicator, being an empathic listener, being a creative problem solver,
being a decisive decision-maker, dealing with conflict, resolving problems,
creating an open and trusting work climate, fostering open dialogue, having
good people skills, being a mentor, being firm but fair, motivating,
encouraging involvement, being self-confident, and inspiring engagement. These
skills usually are not acquired from routine on-the-job learning.

The organization must have a process in place that selects the "right
people" with the proper temperament, motivation, and capacity to become
effective supervisors (foremen). The organization also needs to have a
supervisory development program that determines the supervisor candidate's
capabilities as well as deficiencies so that a personalized program may be
devised to provide the necessary education and mentoring as well as appropriate
work experience to bring this person up to their highest potential in the new
assignment. The organization must also have some overall concept of this
person's potential so that assignments are made that will provide the
proper challenges, learning opportunities, and growth potential so that they
may advance to higher positions in the organizational structure.

To address the problem holistically, the organization must be able to
determine if the problem is associated with an individual or system-driven. An
individual problem will have a localized impact and can be resolved by dealing
with the issues associated with that specific case. A system-driven problem
cannot be resolved at the individual level, and the "fix" may be more
difficult to identify and to change. This system-driven scenario will impact
the greater organization in a more profound way and require structural changes
and will have potentially significant consequence operationally as well as
financially.

Typically, most construction firms manage unique projects on diverse sites
that are overseen from a centralized location. These can be the home office or
a business unit. Many of the projects may be well over an hour or more distant
and so are visited by management at different levels of frequency. The
frequency may depend on the distance, how overloaded the manager may be, and
the complexity or importance of the project. This oversight may also be more
than one level of management. But, in all cases, the field staff will have
day-to-day responsibility and control. Since production occurs at the task
level, the foreman is in a unique position to impact the crew's level of
productivity.

The Reality of the Frontline

In virtually all of the companies that I have come in contact with, the
frontline supervisor's role is to oversee a limited number of direct
reports (the crew). In many cases, the foreman is expected to actually do
production work (working foreman) or is expected to oversee a large crew, which
may be taxing "the span of control" capacity of the foreman's
management capabilities. In those cases, the foreman's ability to
effectively manage the crews is limited. The foreman is expected to get the
crew to meet the production goal for that day. In most cases, the foreman
ensures that company policies and procedures are followed. They may have
limited authority or discretion to deviate from planned goals and
objectives.

Some of these limiting factors in the functioning of the foremen are a
direct outcome of the organization's structure. This is endemic of
companies that are vertically organized and centrally controlled. But, more
importantly, it is driven by how organizations select their foremen and train
them for the line management positions. Virtually all foremen are selected from
among the crafts. Managers identify craftspersons who are effective and
productive in their work and promote them to the foreman positions.

Unfortunately, most organizations do not have any formal system of preparing
these folks for the foreman role. Effective craftspersons generally have good
technical skills. But, once they are put in the line manager's position,
they require a broader skillset. They certainly need administrative skills,
people skills, planning skills, organizational skills, communication skills,
and problem-solving skills, as well as they will have to be able to effectively
deal with conflict, make sound decisions, and use good judgment. Most promoted
craftspersons will struggle if they are not provided some education in these
areas. Struggling foremen are going to adversely impact the crew's
productivity and ultimately the organization's profitability!

Every organization must create a list of capabilities for each position they
have in their chain of command. People identified with potential for promotion
must be tested to identify their strengths and weakness in these areas. The
next step is to either assign them to tasks that will provide exposure to these
areas or devise an educational plan that will enhance and strengthen their weak
areas. This will not only benefit the individual and ensure their success, but
more importantly, the organization will improve productivity and morale as well
as the bottom line.

There are virtually hundreds of organizations in various industries who have
reduced hours worked from 15 to 25 percent while simultaneously increasing
productivity from 10 to 20 percent. This was achieved at the frontline
supervisory level. First and foremost is selecting the "right" person
for the supervisory position. This means that the organization must set down
the selection criteria for their supervisors going forward. The next step is to
assess the strengths and weaknesses of the selected candidates and devise a
process whereby they receive the necessary education/training as well as
coaching, counseling, or mentoring as appropriate. The additional
organizational support to ensure their supervisory success is to empower them,
improving their planning abilities, providing them with the appropriate
information and resources in a timely manner, streamlining their administrative
load, and ensuring that they receive the necessary coaching, mentoring, and/or
counselling.

The Crew

In construction, many crews tend to work as a work group. Work groups are
not teams in the teaming sense of the word. The typical crew in construction
functions as an independent-level work group. The individual workers are
assigned to the crew (group) by the foreman. Each individual is responsible for
his or her part of the work. They are independent because they are experienced
as well as knowledgeable in the work being performed and do not require close
oversight other than general directions from the foreman. They do not have any
joint responsibility other than their own. As a result, there is limited-to-no
synergy involved. The crew's production is limited to the ability, skill,
and motivation that each individual brings to the work group. When workers work
in a crew (group) there are a couple of factors involved. The primary one is to
get the work done by doing their piece of the work.

The second factor is the process by which the work is accomplished. This is
the mechanism by which the group as a whole addresses the production process.
This represents how each individual works in such a way as to enhance the
efforts of the others in the team. In simple terms, the teaming process leads
to cooperation and coordination of the members of the team. They have common
practices and procedures as well as shared goals. They combine their talents,
share information, support each other, and enhance the process with individual
skills or expertise. This synergistic approach engenders a fuller utilization
of the workforce with superior results (see Figure 1).

Work Groups

Teams

Individual accountability

Individual and mutual accountability

Come together to share information and perspectives

Frequently come together for discussion, decision-making, problem
solving, and planning

Focus on individual goals

Focus on team goals

Produce individual work products

Produce collective work products

Define individual roles, responsibilities, and tasks

Define individual roles, responsibilities, and tasks to help team do
its work; often share and rotate them

Concern with one's own outcome and challenges

Concern with outcomes of everyone and challenges the team faces

Purpose, goals, and approach to work shaped by manager

Purpose, goals, and approach to work shaped by team leader with team
members

Figure 1—Workgroup and Team Comparison

The foreman is more successful if the crew is experienced and motivated to
work at their best level. So, if the organization wants operational excellence
at the crew level, it must help the crew to migrate from a traditional work
group to a cooperative team. Teaming is one of the most effective ways to
improve productivity and quality, as well as safety, at the frontline. So,
selecting the "right" workers for the crew is an important factor, as
well as providing them with some team-building information. The foreman must
receive team-building training as well as support from his or her manager as he
or she develops into an effective team leader.

The Crew as a Team

Safety practitioners try to encourage workers to pay attention, to use safe
work practices, and to watch out for each other while they are working. This is
rarely effective in work-group settings but certainly will seamlessly function
in team settings. The other more important benefit of crews functioning as
teams is that the team will be more productive as well as perform the work at a
higher quality than is possible in any typical work-group setting. There are
many other underlying benefits to a crew that functions as teams, such as that
they need less oversight and guidance, which frees up supervisor's time to
do planning, anticipate and solve problems, and direct resources to more
productive uses. The safety practitioner can spend more time working with
management to generate more realistic estimates, structure work more
effectively, manage risk holistically, and enhance productivity, as well as
contribute to profitability.

So, any astute organization may want to focus on developing teaming
practices in their field operations to garner the benefits of crews that
function as teams. This results in a win-win for the job and the organization
as a whole, to say nothing of all benefits resulting from a cooperative work
climate as well as the bonding among team members.

Teams evolve over time. They go through different stages of development (see
Figure 2). Basically, there are five stages in the lifecycle of a team, with
four covering its development aspect.

Figure 2—Team Development

Forming—In the forming stage, most team members will likely
exhibit some cautious behaviors. Each will try to see what others are doing to
get a sense of what might be acceptable and what may not. Many will look to the
supervisor for strong guidance and direction during this stage of development.
The crew members more than likely do not know the others well and, therefore,
are going to want to get to know them in order to develop some form of
relationship, working toward building acceptance as well as trust. While many
of the concerns at this stage are related to developing a relationship, the
foreman can often help them by giving clarity about what needs to get done. The
supervisor can engage in directing activities, providing guidance, setting
goals, and solving problems to name a few. For the crew to function efficiently
as well as effectively, they need clarity and direction in what is acceptable
to help your team grow from a group of individuals to a high-performing
team.

Storming—In the storming stage, your team may experience
conflicts and struggles. This is a very dangerous phase of team development
because relationships can be irreparably harmed by conflicts, relationship
struggles, and wrestling with organizational issues. To navigate these rough
waters, use cautious behaviors—asking thoughtful questions, carefully
evaluating information, and developing processes—to guide your team onto the
next stage of development.

Norming—As the team enters the norming stage, it will focus
more on task accomplishment and less on interpersonal issues. There may still
be a few leftover relationship issues to resolve and some gentle guidance to
offer to keep them growing. You can use supportive behaviors—offering
reassurance and encouragement and listening—to solidify the team growth gains
made in the previous two stages.

Performing—Finally, the team moves into the performing
stage. The members are pretty self-sufficient by this stage. They know what
needs to be done and how to do it. They are almost totally focused on goal
achievement. Now, inspiring behaviors—enthusiasm, cheerleading, and
celebrating—can be used to keep the team's energy up for the long haul.

Adjourning—As with most teams, members reach a point where
they have accomplished their goal or objective, and they are faced with the
need to adjourn. Every one of the team members takes away a wealth of knowledge
and information they will be able to use in other assignments, especially if
they get involved with another team in the future.

Conclusion

Since money is made at the crew level, the foreman plays a key role in
getting the most out of the crew's performance. In this regard, they play
an important role in construction companies. For this reason, construction
firms should pay greater attention to who is promoted to the foreman level to
ensure that these are the very best candidates under consideration. They should
also have a more robust system for identifying the candidates' strengthens
and weaknesses. This will then determine the types of training and education
needed to maximize their effectiveness in their role as frontline
supervisors.

To ensure these frontline supervisor's success, management
should make every effort to streamline their administrative responsibilities to
allow them more time in managing the performance of the crews. This involves a
basic knowledge of some fundamental management skills, such as planning,
organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling, along with people skills of
leadership, motivating, influencing, dealing with conflict, and
decision-making, as well as problem-solving, communications skills, and active
listening, to name a few. They also need a robust understanding of culture,
climate, and values. They must be able to articulate an engrossing vision; they
must be able to instill trust, aligning the crew's goal with that of the
project and enthusiastic involvement of the workforce in accomplishing the
goals and objectives of the organization.

Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the author's employer or IRMI. Expert Commentary articles and other IRMI Online content do not purport to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion. If such advice is needed, consult with your attorney, accountant, or other qualified adviser.

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